Film star William H. Macy will return to the theatre he co-founded with David Mamet when he appears this coming spring in the Atlantic Theatre Company's production of what is, perhaps, the playwright's greatest work, American Buffalo. Neil Pepe will direct. The production will begin performances March 3, 2000 and open March 16.
William H. Macy has made a name for himself in such films as "Fargo," "Boogie Nights" and "Mystery Men." He was nominated for an Oscar for the first film and last appeared on the New York stage in Mamet's Oleanna.
Buffalo will first visit London's Donmar Warehouse before coming to the Atlantic. The show's other two stars are yet to be announced.
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In other Atlantic news, the company have lined up the final entries in their upcoming David Mamet season, adding Sexual Perversity in Chicago, The Duck Variations, and Ghost Stories to the already announced The Water Engine, Mr. Happiness and American Buffalo. The 1999-2000 season will begin with a double bill of The Water Engine and Mr. Happiness. Water Engine, first written for the radio, is about a doomed inventor who discovers an engine that runs on water. Mr. Happiness, meanwhile, is about a sort of Mr. Lonelyhearts of early radio. Karen Kohlhaas will direct the evening, which begins previews Sept. 29 and runs through Nov. 21, with an opening in mid- October.
Bob Balaban will star as Mr. Happiness' advice-giver. The cast of Water Engine will feature Steven Goldstein, Jordan Lage, Mary McCann -- all company members -- as well as Maggie Kiley, Carol John Matusovich, Josh Stamberg and Mary Ann Urbano.
The second slot in the season will be filled by Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Mamet's early success about the rules of attraction, circa mid-'70s, and The Duck Variations, a one-act about the observations of two old men sitting on a park bench.
Hilary Hinckle will direct the evening, which begins Dec. 16 and opens Jan. 13.
The last offering of the season will be Ghost Stories, a double bill made up of The Shawl and No One Will Be Immune. Performances will being May 16 for a June 1 opening.
The Shawl was first performed at the Goodman Theater in 1985, and tells of a woman who turns into a psychic after her mother dies. No One is about a man's disturbing tale of why he forced a plane to return to its gate.
The Atlantic also plans to present something improbably called "Mamet for Kids," a series of children's plays by the usually very-adult playwright. Also of offer will be a spring festival of Mamet sketches, performed by Atlantic's acting students as a late-night cabaret.
Mamet co-founded the Atlantic Theatre Company with actor and director Macy. In the past, the troupe has staged several Mamet works, but lately it has concentrated on British plays such as The Beauty Queen on Leenane and Mojo, as well as new American dramas like The Cider House Rules and Minutes from the Blue Route.
Other Mamet plays include The Old Neighborhood, The Cryptogram, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross, Oleanna, Speed-the-Plow and The Woods. Mamet's latest film "The Winslow Boy" recently opened to strong reviews.
-- By Robert Simonson
